Incorporating Acceptance and Mindfulness into the Treatment of Psychosis Current Trends and Future Directions

There have been exciting new developments in the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychoses in recent decades. Clinical guidelines increasingly recommend that patients be offered evidence-based psychosocial treatments in addition to medications, as such interventions can produce greater improvements and may prevent relapses better compared with medications alone. In parallel with these recent advancements, an evolution in the way cognitive-behavioral therapies are being conceptualized and implemented has occurred due to the incorporation of novel strategies that promote psychological processes such as acceptance and mindfulness. While there are a variety of acceptance/mindfulness approaches being developed to address psychosis, there is not currently a dominant approach.

In Incorporating Acceptance and Mindfulness into the Treatment of Psychosis, Brandon Gaudiano brings together the researchers and clinicians working at the cutting edge of acceptance/mindfulness therapies for psychosis to compare and contrast emerging approaches and discuss them within the context of the more traditional cognitive-behavioral interventions. The book includes a section that focuses on six distinct treatment models that incorporate acceptance and mindfulness strategies for psychosis and a section that provides a synthesis and analysis of acceptance/mindfulness approaches to psychosis. It concludes with recommendations for moving the research forward in a constructive and responsible way. This volume will be an important resource for researchers and clinicians interested in gaining a deeper understanding of mindfulness- and acceptance-based approaches and newer psychosocial treatments for severe mental illness.

Brandon A. Gaudiano, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in the Psychosocial Research Program at Butler Hospital and also is Assistant Professor (research) in the Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Gaudiano has published over 65 peer-reviewed, scientific articles as well as 50 other publications on various topics including psychotherapy development and testing, evidence-based practices, psychotic and mood disorders, and mindfulness/acceptance. His research on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and other novel psychosocial interventions for psychosis has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Foreword by Kim T. Mueser
About the Editor
Contributors

Section I: Introduction and Background
1. An Introduction to Mindfulness and Acceptance Therapies for Psychosis
Brandon A. Gaudiano

2. The Evolution of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis: The Path to Integrate Acceptance, Compassion and Mindfulness
Douglas Turkington, Nicola Wright, and James Courtley

3. Ecological Momentary Assessments in Psychosis: A Contextual Behavioral Approach to Studying Mindfulness and Acceptance
Roger Vilardaga, Michael McDonell, Emily Leickly, and Richard Ries

Section II: Specific Treatment Models
4. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Psychosis: Applying Acceptance and Mindfulness in the Context of an Inpatient Hospitalization
Patricia Bach

5. Treating Depression in Psychosis: Self-Compassion as a Valued-Life Direction
Ross G. White

6. Acceptance-based CBT for Command Hallucinations: Rationale, Implementation, Outcomes, and Reflections from the TORCH Project
Fran Shawyer and John Farhall

7. Person-Based Cognitive Therapy for Distressing Psychosis: Integrating a Mindfulness-Based Approach with Cognitive Therapy
Mark Hayward, Lyn Ellet, and Clara Strauss

8. Mindfulness Meditation in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis
Katherine Newman Taylor and Nicola Abba

Section III: Synthesis and Analysis
9. A Model of Psychosis for the Development of Acceptance and Mindfulness-Based Therapies: Preoccupation with Psychotic Experiences as a Treatment Target
Neil Thomas

10. Disseminating and Implementing Acceptance and Mindfulness Based Approaches to Psychosis: Challenges and Opportunities
Hamish McLeod

11. Charting the Course Ahead: Future Clinical and Research Directions in Mindfulness and Acceptance Therapies for Psychosis
Brandon A. Gaudiano

Index